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Behind the scenes with Jack?
CNN has released a new video podcast featuring a behind-the-scenes look of Jack Cafferty and his reports on the Situation Room. Jack discusses his job and makes a few jokes along the way. The video shows how questions and viewer responses are selected to be read on the air. Wolf Blitzer also makes a special guest appearance. More CNN podcasts can be viewed here.
Where has Jack been the last two weeks?
Today marks the end of the second week with no Jack Cafferty appearances on the Situation Room. Cafferty last appeared on the show on February 16. Since then, Wolf Blitzer has stated repeatedly that Cafferty “is off today.” His extended absence is beginning to raise some questions. Is he just taking a long vacation, or is there something that we don’t know about? On the February 16 edition of the Situation Room, Blitzer told Cafferty, “See you back here on Monday.” Obviously, that wasn’t the case. One possibility is that he could have been disciplined by CNN for making fun of how much CNN and other media outlets covered the death of Anna Nicole Smith. However, there is no concrete evidence that this is the cause of his absence. If anyone has more information about this, please let us know.
Cafferty discusses impeachment of Cheney
From the Jan. 24 edition of the Situation Room:
"Wolf, although House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said impeachment is quote, "off the table" not everybody is so sure about that. Two New Mexico state senators have introduced a resolution calling on Congress to impeach President Bush and Vice President Cheney. The measure accuses Mr. Bush and Cheney of misleading Congress about the war in Iraq, torturing prisoners and violating Americans' civil liberties through the domestic spy program."
Cafferty hosts "Broken Government" special
On October 19, Jack Cafferty hosted the premiere of CNN’s “Broken Government” series. Overall, I was very impressed with the content of the show. Cafferty voiced sharp criticism of many politicians and called on viewers to vote against all incumbents. He covered electronic voting and other important issues that are often ignored by the mainstream media. My only disappointment was that the show didn’t feature more of Jack. There were several CNN correspondents who reported on topics throughout the program. The show appeared to get pretty good ratings, which can be viewed at TVNewser. Hopefully Cafferty will have more opportunities like this in the future.
Some video from the show is available on the video page.
Here’s a brief summary of the show:
The show began with some opening remarks from Cafferty in which he talked about all of the major problems with the government. He cited a series of polls indicating that an overwhelming majority of Americans disapprove of President Bush, Congress, and the war in Iraq. CNN correspondent Joe Johns then summarized the ten biggest failures of Congress. Johns mentioned scandals involving Ney, Cunningham, Delay, Foley, and other members of Congress. Next, Candy Crowley came on to analyze the Democratic Party. She asked the question why Democrats have had problems winning elections over the past several years.
After the commercial break, Cafferty interviewed Andrew Sullivan, author of "The Conservative Soul,” to discuss Christian conservatives. Zain Verjee then joined Cafferty to examine problems with voting machines. Jack stated, “Like some banana republic, if you will, Americans will go to voting booth wondering if their vote will count and be recorded accurately.” Cafferty ended by discussing electronic voting machines with Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich.
The next segment began with a series of clips of Rumsfeld, Cheney, and Bush making false predictions about the war in Iraq. Cafferty ripped the Bush administration for their handling of the war. “This was all done in the name of the war on terror, and it makes you wonder if what we're doing to ourselves is a whole lot worse than what the terrorists are trying to do us,” Cafferty said. Suzanne Malveaux then came on to examine how Republicans have used fear to stay in power.
The last segment of the show focused on illegal immigration. Cafferty criticized the government for not doing more to secure the borders. The segment also featured an Arizona congressional race between Democrat Gabrielle Giffords and Republican Randy Graf.
The show ended with Jack’s closing statement:
"So the time's come. We own this place, not the career liars and weasels in Washington. We elect these people in good faith to go to Washington and look out for us. They have sold us out. They look in us in the eye. They lie to us day after day after day. They scurry around behind our backs. They take money from the lobbyists and the corporations. Then, they give that money away to their friends to buy stuff we don't need. The legislation they do get around to passing isn't for us. It's to benefit their contributors. And they think they're entitled to sit there and do this stuff forever. Well, enough already. Want to have a little fun on Election Day? Go to polls and vote against every incumbent on the ballot. Throw them all out. Think about it for a minute. No matter who we replace them with, how much worse could it be? And what a message it would send. You have one term to prove to us your worthy of representing us, or you're gone. It's not as far-fetched as it sounds.”
Jack Cafferty to host primetime special on CNN
Jack Cafferty will have an hour in primetime to host CNN’s “Broken Government” special, airing October 19 at 7 p.m. EDT. The episode is part of a new series that will feature several different reporters who will investigate issues that concern voters. Cafferty is scheduled to discuss presidential abuse of power, corruption in Congress, immigration, problems with voting machines and other important issues. He recently mentioned the upcoming show on The Situation Room and stated, “We're going to take a look at some of the stuff that's just gone haywire in Washington and see if we can figure out how to fix some of it.” For more information on the series, read the CNN press release.
The “Broken Government” show will be one of the few times Cafferty has ever had an hour in primetime to voice his opinions. He already anchors In The Money, CNN’s weekend financial program, but the show has several other co-hosts. Cafferty does not really have enough time for any in-depth reporting with the short “Cafferty File” segments on The Situation Room. The last time he had a program to discuss political issues was when he hosted a late-night call-in show following the September 11 terrorist attacks.
It will be interesting to see how Cafferty performs with an entire hour. Hopefully his opinions will not be restricted and he will be allowed to say whatever he wants. It would also be great to see him conduct some one-on-one interviews with politicians.
There is a small possibility that this could be a prelude to Cafferty eventually having his own evening newscast. The “Broken Government” show could serve as an audition for CNN management if they are considering giving Cafferty his own show. If he performs well and the show has high ratings, CNN executives might decide to make room for him in their weekday lineup. Even if this is the only opportunity he ever gets, it will at least be refreshing to watch an hour of journalism the way it was meant to be.
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